Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread : The Sequel
Not a lot of joy in Mudville after a big shutout win on the road over a highly-ranked, high in the standings UMass team. Therefore, please let me vent.
First, thank you, Jack Downing, on behalf of some of the people who support the Catamounts, for your commitment and dedication to the team. As the team flounders and 'tries' to 'find itself,' a first line player, a junior, violating the student code is a wonderful contribution to make to your team. Thank you and keep up the good work. I would also like to nominate you to be a captain next year as you are obviously a person and player who can lead both on AND off the ice. The funny thing is, you were replaced by a better hockey player, Chris McCarthy, who made a play to Wahs Stacey that you could never have seen, let alone made.
On January 24, coach Sneddon's team is working on its leadership. I hope the work starts by looking in the mirror. I liked Pacan's penalty early in the 1st period but I loved Cullity's running the goalie penalty that negated a powerplay opportunity. What a disciplined team the coach is running. And then the too many men penalty deserves a real tip of the cap to the coach. Running a real tight bench, you are, coach. Maybe things are just happening too quickly out there for the mastermind.
Any team that has more than one captain does NOT have a leader. Despite holding out 2 players as captains, this team very obviously does not have much leadership. Roloff's 'C,' with all due respect, appears to stand for nothing more than 'Center,' the position he plays. Miller's 'C' appears to stand for 'Ceriously?' And Cullity's 'A' obviously stands for 'Another stupid penalty,' and that was before his running the goalie penalty yesterday. A veteran team with too much leadership to name just one captain operates like this one? Am I missing legendary leadership here? As for Jack Downing - and thanks again, Jack - any fault for his lack of discipline or commitment on the coach? Or his captains' leadership? It's working great, guys.
I am on a mission. I am in search of a powerplay unit at any level of hockey from high school up that has 3 players (Marshall, Miller, MacKenzie) with 1 goal each, now that MacKenzie got his 1st goal of the season. If you spot one, please let me know. To me, if you put a unit together with 3 1-goal scorers - and it ain't like any of them are big set up guys, either - you are coaching at the wrong level of hockey. I am sure that Matt Marshall's mom and dad love watching him play, but I don't. Is there any such thing as a player who does not belong at the level he's playing at? Matt Marshall (1g-3a) plays a regular shift - and the 4th line does NOT miss a shift, ever - and he kills penalties AND he plays on the powerplay. And he has 1 goal and 3 assists. I know that Marshall and Higgins and Anctil played a ton yesterday, being penalty killers, but did Brayden Irwin or Justin Milo, non-penalty killers, even play yesterday? I saw a lot a 19, 7, 14, and 10 for UMass and I saw way too much of 16, 17, and 25 for UVM.
Argue all you want for playing a 4th line, with 3 combined goals now that Anctil got one, but when the UMass assistant coach was asked before the 2nd period if their 1st line was going to get a bit of a rest after playing so much in the 1st period, he said, "Our playmakers play." A little different philosophy than Sneddon's let's play guys who cannot possibly score, even in the dying minutes of Saturday's game trailing 2-1. Good luck, coach, regularly using a 4th line against teams that don't play their 4th line nearly as much as they play their top 2 lines.
So, the team played with fire, giving UMass 9 PP opportunities, and got away with it. Because the PK is so darn good, Pacan can take a senseless cross checking penalty less than a minute after Irwin's silly interference penalty, and Marshall can run into the goalie with the team on the PP, and the coach can take an out of control too many men penalty, and Cullity, a defenseman, can run the goalie during a delayed penalty, and everything is alright.
And the fans are still not happy.
So this team's losses suck and their wins just stink. Coach Sneddon, with the help of his 'leadership team,' is doing a great job of trying to get this team to reach its (overrated?) potential.
That was an ugly, ugly win to conclude an ugly, ugly series in a season that has some wonderful performances and wins yet looks ugly and smells stinky. Guys quitting, guys taking leaves of absences. This season that began with such (overrated?) promise for the most part just stinks.
If they can just work out that leadership thing they're working on as January and the season wind down, and if that 4th line can keep doing what it does - and it ain't scoring - regardless of the game situation, and if we can just get a couple more 1 goal scorers for the Marshall, Miller, MacKenzie PP unit - Higgins? Anctil? Cullity? - the team is going to be fine. Even if it sucks watching them play hockey.
Go Cats! Go!
P.S. - Thanks, Jack.
